This Comic Is Good - Adventure Classics

Tom Pomplun sent me a copy of the latest collection of Eureka Productions' Graphic Classics series (Volume Twelve, to be precise), Adventure Classics, and I am really glad that he did, because it is a wonderful collection.

Graphic Classics are essentially just like the classic "Classics Illustrated" of the past - comic book adaptations of stories by notable authors.

This collection features, well, adventure stories (I know, I know, that must come as quite a surprise), from the likes of Damon Runyon, Zane Grey and Alexandre Dumas.

On a critical level, it is not fair of me to judge the writing, as the writing is obviously good, as Pumplun's group obviously took great stories from famous writers, so the odds are quite high that the stories will be good.

No, to judge this book critically, it will have to rest on the adaptations of the stories and the artwork.

In both cases, the book passes with flying colors (although more so for the former).

The adaptations are sparkling, as you can barely tell in most of the instances that the books were not INTENDED to be read in comic book format.

As for the art, a wide variety of artists worked on the comic, so quality definitely varies, but for the most part, the artwork is quite impressive, which is especially nice to see as I was not familiar with most of the artists involved.

The cover of the collection is a striking, Ray Lago-esque painting by Chris Moore.



The first story, Sax Rohmer's chilling tale of mystery on an archaeological dig in Egypt, was probably my least favorite, art-wise. Rod Lott adapted the story well, storywise, but I do not know if J.B. Bonivert's style fully fit the story or, if the STYLE worked, then perhaps Bonivert just did not pull it off (and you can imagine what I was thinking the rest of the comic would look like, being disappointed in the art for the FIRST story).

However, Michael Manning came back with a strong art job on Alexandre Dumas' The Monster Ball.

Don Marquez followed with my second or third favorite art job, showing a major Frazetta influence (and, for the record, I just spent a good four to five minutes staring at the art, trying to figure out WHO his art reminded me of...hehe) on the Zane Grey tale, "Tigre," which is such an detailed tale, the comic book format really helps with the story.

My favorite art job is on the next story, a Damon Runyon adaptation by Noel Tuazon. This was also probably my favorite story in the whole book (O. Henry's entry is closest). Runyon sure knew how to write a popular story.

Kevin Atkinson gives a colorful (which is impressive, as the book is black and white) rendition of Rafael Sabatini's inimitable Captain Blood character. It was quite striking at how the style of art really painted a different picture. Atkinson's stlye gave the story a real bounding appeal...I think a darker artist would greatly affect the impact of the story.

Chris Pelletiere does a good job handling the noir feel of The Stolen Story, by Jonston McCulley, although I felt there were a few panels that seemed a bit unintentionally loose.

Pedro Lopez was right there with Don Marquez in his rendition of O. Henry's The Roads We Take, which is a really cool story (adapted quite well by Rod Lott), and shows why O. Henry was so darn popular (and why Eureka has devoted an entire collection to JUST O. Henry stories!).

The previous stories (other than the two adapted by Lott) were adapted by Pomplun, who does a strong job.

The only other non-Pomplun adapted stories are Milton Knight's suitably wacky adaptation (including the art as well) of Fitz-James O'Brien's The Man Without a Shadow and Antonella Caputo's strong adaptations of Edith Nesbit's The Mystery of the Semi-Detached (with solid art from Mark A. Nelson) and Arthur Conan Doyle's The Crime of the Brigadier (with art by Nick Miller that is quite reminscient of Sergio Aragones and Albert Uderzo).

There are also three illustrated poems, which range from simply drawings along with poems, such as Skot Olsen's drawing alongside Robert Louis Stevenson's poem The Wind Blew Shrill and Smart that opens the entire collection, and Mary Fleener's drawings for Rudyard Kipling's Gunga Din, to the Mad Magazine-esque rendition of The Shooting of Dan McGrew, written by Rober W. Service, and detailed by Hunt Emerson.

Add four pages of biographical information for each author and artist, and you have yourself here a very smart, attractive, package, delivered with distinct care.

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What I bought - 10 August 2005

Dave over at Dave Ex Machina has a mission for comics bloggers: go read some comics. Well, I read comics all the time. But he also says we shouldn't talk about them. Oops. That's where I come in. I'm just trying to share the love, people! Is that so wrong?

Let's check out the floppies for this week (minor spoiler when I talk about Fables, if you're interested):

Easy Way #4 by Christopher E. Long and Andy Kuhn
$3.99, IDW


 
Well, things wrap up, and it's kind of predictable, but as usual with IDW's output, it's not about the quality of the book, it's about whether the quality justifies the price tag. I will repeat my dilemma with this book: it's fine, solid storytelling, with a vaguely familiar plot line, and there's nothing wrong with it, it's just not worth 16 dollars. I am completely ignorant of the vagaries of pricing comics, because I'm stupid, but I've said it before and I'll say it again - this would work very nicely as a $10.95 graphic novel. Why wasn't it put out that way? I don't know, and if anyone can tell me, I'd be happy to listen. It has a varied cast of characters, a "hero" you can root for even though he's flawed, some nice violence, some small twists that aren't out of the realm of reality, decent tension-building even though we're pretty confident things will work out, and good art. But it's not stunning. It's not something that makes you fall over because it's the greatest thing you've ever read. I doubt if Christopher Long himself thinks it is, and that's fine. It's a perfectly nice mini-series. Years from now I will drag it out of my long box and re-read it and say, "This is pretty good." I just wonder why it was put out in this fashion.

Okay, that's enough ranting about that. Moving on!

Elk's Run #3 by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Noel Tuazon
FREE! (Okay, it's 3 dollars, but there's no price listed on it, so it must be free, right?), Hoarse and Buggy


 
Okay, so, yeah, I didn't read it. You see, when Guy fell in love with this, I thought I'd give it a try. So I ordered this issue and thought, "I'll just track down the first two in the back issue bins, since I missed them when they came out." Well, of course the first two are gone and will probably set me back many ducats now, but then, when Speakeasy solicited the first three issues as a mini-trade (as part of their campaign to take over independent comics), I ordered that. So I'm waiting for that to come out, because I don't want to jump into this in the middle of the story and get all confused. It looks cool, though.

So that's that. Unless Jason has some extra copies lying around that he wants to send off to a poor little comics blogger, I'll wait on this. My tiny contribution to the independent comics' fund, I guess.

Fables #40 by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, and Steve Leialoha
$2.75, DC/Vertigo


 
Boy, that's a nice cover.

I bet Brian is all smug and shit because he knew who the Adversary was, but if you saw the cover, you can probably figure it out. This is basically Gepetto's "origin" story, and I doubt if it's a coincidence that the way he became the Adversary mirrors closely the way the Romans rose to power. It was always "in everyone's best interest" and the conquered people were allowed to keep their own laws and customs, just kick back some tax money to the Big Kahuna. What this does, I think, is allow Willingham to show that Gepetto, despite doing some pretty horrible things (especially that one thing with the Blue Fairy - ewww!), is basically a realpolitik politician, and wouldn't be out of place hanging with Otto von Bismarck, Winston Churchill, Truman, or even our current president (I will leave it Avi and T. to say whether Willingham is criticizing the current bossman). We admire the Romans for their willingness to work within the local systems while still bringing "civilization" to the conquered. Yet there were plenty of people who considered the Romans the most evil conquerors in history. In a more modern sense, do we admire Americans for spreading the fruits of their culture around the world, or do we protest when someone tries to open a McDonald's in Oaxaca? What Willingham has done, just with this issue, has called into question the attitudes of all the Fables in Exile. I have a feeling Gepetto will do something truly horrible so that we can all get back to hating him, but I hope not. This issue makes this series, which is one of the best out there, even more interesting.¹

¹ I don't think saying that Gepetto is the Adversary is really giving anything away, is it? It's not like it's THAT big a shock.

Gravity #3 by Sean McKeever and Mike Norton
$2.99, Marvel


 
Another solid effort in this mini-series, which is probably flying under the radar in this "House of Crap" summer. As usual, everyone says they want fun superhero books, but fun superhero books don't sell. This is a fun superhero book. That's not to say there isn't drama - Greg gets his butt kicked by Black Death and only escapes through a convenient plot device, and the whole issue is a little darker than the first two, but it's still a book about a young guy trying to figure out if he's cut out to be a superhero, but that's just a metaphor! Yes, it's all a metaphor in this coming-of-age story. Yes, it's all vaguely familiar (my phrase of the day). Yes, the audience is screaming at Greg to just bang Lauren already and stop dreaming of being the next Spider-Man. But he's stupid, people! Weren't we all at 18? Didn't we all dream of something better when hot Indian chicks were throwing themselves at us? And didn't we all know a person who was just trying to help us out (like Greg's roommate) but we were too caught up in our own little drama to notice, so we snapped out at him?

This is not a revolutionary series, people. It is, however, an attempt to bring to this jaded comic book audience the sense of wonder at having powers and using them for the greater good. It's a solid superhero book, and that's all it has to be. And Greg finally figures out that getting your ass kicked by Jack-O-Lantern (yes, he has a cameo) might be a lot worse than making out with a hot chick. Score one for the college student!

Mnemovore #5 by Hans Rodionoff, Ray Fawkes, and Mike Huddleston
$2.99, DC/Vertigo


 
Man, this is a creepy book. It would be nice if my copy didn't have a lot of faded dialogue (I don't know what the deal is - some words just aren't there, and others are a lot lighter than the rest of the words - did it happen on the whole print run, or am I the unlucky one?), but it's still a creepy book. Kaley finds the big bad guy and decides to take care of it. Mike shows up and thinks differently. We learn a little bit more about the Mnemovore and where it comes from. Kaley is starting to remember things from before the accident.

I don't want to say much more, because part of the fun of this book is reading it and getting a creepy feeling all over your skin. It still depends on the conclusion, but it's in the running for best mini-series of the year.

Noble Causes #12 by Jay Faerber and Fran Bueno
$3.50, Image


 
Although I have bought every issue of Noble Causes in all its permutations, I have been critical of it because it sometimes is definitely not worth the money for the story you get. The past few issues, however, have been very good, and #12 is fantastic. The reason it is fantastic is because this Faerber brings to a close the storyline he's been running for the past 11 issues, and he does it with a nice sense of drama and a little bit of a twist and some revelations that make sense within the context of the book. This feels like a Claremont X-Men book back when Claremont knew how to pull his loose ends together. Faerber even leaves one plot line dangling to tantalize us, which is another thing Claremont used to do well. There's a crapload of action, some nice characterization, and good evil people who get their just desserts. Excellent stuff.

I'm sorry, but if you're buying, say, New Avengers, with Jessica Drew explaining how she makes all the guys horny, or Shanna the She-Devil, where, as far as I can tell, a scantily-clad big-busted chick hacks dinosaurs apart for seven issues, you should put that money to good use and buy a truly fun superhero book that, despite having stories run for 12 issues, is far from decompressed. Okay, I'm done ranting about that for today. What can I rant about now?

Samurai: Heaven and Earth #4 by Ron Marz and Luke Ross
$2.99, Dark Horse


 
Ooh, ooh, I know what I can rant about now! How about soliciting things before they're ready? This was supposed to be out a few months ago, and now that it's here, I have to agree with Zilla, who wanted more to happen. It's gorgeous to look at, and the story moves slowly toward its conclusion, and I liked it more than Zilla did, but he has a point. Reading this issue in the middle of the trade (and if you haven't been buying this, get the trade) wouldn't bother me, because we do learn some things that are important to the story. But although I'm sure Marz had the whole thing plotted out months ago, it feels like he thought Shiro was getting too close to Yoshiko and he needed to throw some roadblocks in his way. The assassination plot against Louis XIV feels thrown in, too - not because it's implausible, but because Marz fails to mention the political backdrop of the whole thing. In 1704 the War of the Spanish Succession was "raging," and Marz obliquely refers to it, but doesn't really explain a whole lot. It would not really do to have a historical dissertation in the middle of the book, but a little more background would have been nice.

Anyway, it's a beautiful book and very different from what is usually out there. Look for the trade, my good people - look for the trade!

Seven Soldiers: Zatanna #3 by THE GOD OF ALL COMICS, Ryan Sook, and Mick Gray


 
Continuing my policy of not reading Seven Soldiers until the whole damned thing is complete, I didn't read this. I will say that this comic probably has more fishnets-per-panel than is allowed by law, Betty Page bangs are so 1997, and if you complain about Marvel's covers being nothing but pinups, you should complain about this one. Is it okay because Zatanna has no ass? Maybe.

I'm sure this is good. Don't displease THE GOD OF ALL COMICS by skipping this!

The Winter Men #1 by Brett Lewis and John Paul Leon
$2.99, DC/Wildstorm


 
See now, this is a meaty book. There's a lot going on, we understand it all (except for the parts Lewis doesn't want us to, but that's okay, because it's a mystery and all that), the art fits the tone of the book, it's sort of a superhero book but it's more of a spy thriller, it shows us a culture we don't understand - it's a nice start to the series. We'll see if they can sustain it for 8 issues. What's interesting about this is that here in the capitalistic, corrupt West, we don't recognize the nice, pure corruption of Mother Russia. Here, our corruption is much more subtle. In this book, Russia is portrayed (and from the little I know, this seems somewhat accurate) as a primitive society masquerading as a modern one - the strong eat the weak, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Like I said, pure. Kalenov, the main character, is very interesting, because he is not necessarily a good man, but he's trying to be. By the end of this first issue we understand why he might not be a good man, even though we're on his side.

And there's a chilling scene in a baby's bedroom. Cool stuff.

X-Men #174 by Peter Milligan, Salvador Larroca, and Danny Miki with Allen Martinez
$2.50, Marvel


 
Remember the good old days of Marvel, when they had a sense of humor? If this book had come out 20 years ago, someone would have put "Warning: not everyone on this cover actually appears in the book!" That's not entirely true - Psylocke and Bishop appear in one panel, but wouldn't that have been fun?

Anyway, it's a book entirely separate from the House of M, which is kind of interesting, and it's the conclusion of Milligan's second story arc, after which I said I was going to decide whether I would keep buying this or not. Well ... I'm still on board, even though this was not as strong an ending as I would have liked. I think the problem is with Milligan's strengths as a writer.

Milligan is good at personal conflict and social satire. His best work - Shade, X-Force/X-Statix, Human Target - delves deep into what binds us together as people and also pokes at the fabric of our society to see what our society actually is. His worst stuff - can anyone say Elektra? - foregoes that entirely. Here, he is trying to do that, and those things are the best parts of the book. However, it's freakin' X-Men, so he has to have superhero stuff in there, and he's not at his best when he's trying to play that straight. Therefore, Onyxx's obsession with Foxx feels stupid, as does the whole discussion about whether Mystique should be allowed into the X-Men. His take on Rogue and Gambit's relationship and how Mystique has messed it up works better, and the mystery of who Mystique is hanging out with is handled nicely. Milligan doesn't like to wrap things up neatly, but here he tries, and it feels forced.

A minor point that really aggravates me about the X-books these days is the idea that Scott and Emma have the greatest relationship ever. In X-time, they've been together, what, six months, if that? We're supposed to believe they're completely devoted to each other and that Scott doesn't feel the least bit guilty about leaping into bed with Emma when Jean wasn't even cold yet. I'm still waiting for the day when Emma revels herself as the evil villain she was BORN TO BE! That will be a good day.

Anyway, I'm still intrigued by this book, because I want Marvel to let Milligan loose like they did on X-Force. I don't want this to be the over-the-top satire that that book was, but anyone who read Shade knows that Milligan can really get under the skin of romance, and really tear characters apart, and that would be cool to see in the X-Men.

Sorry to run on today. Anyone got anything to say?

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This Comic Is Good - DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories

A few months back, I said here, in reference to DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories, "Who made a deal with the Devil so that we got something so freaking cool?!!?!?"

And having read the book, my question still stands.



First off, how cool is that cover?

Secondly, the introduction by Craig Shutt was quite good. I like it when comics have introductions by guys who know what they are talking about, and know how to express it well.

The opening tale is one by Otto Binder and CC Beck which just blows your mind. It tells the story of the world going to atomic war, with Captain Marvel trapped in the middle!

This story was so hot the paper sizzled!

I can only imagine what it must have been like to read a comic so bold in 1946!!

There is a good story featuring the reveal of what would happen if Bruce Wayne's parents WEREN'T killed when he was young (I did not like that his parents ended up dying when he was a young MAN ANYways. Seemed silly). The fact that he STILL ended up becoming Batman was a real hoot.

The story of Batman and Robin getting new identities after their IDs were revealed was pretty hokey.

I also was not a fan of the "a bit too much" story of Superman marrying Lois Lane, Lana Lang and Lori Lemaris....in succession!

I liked the story of Superman and Batman as brothers (especially the weird ending, with Batman ending up in the Legion of Superheroes!!!).

The Flash story where Barry Allen imagines if he didn't have a secret identity was good, especially the bit that I always loved about how Barry grew up reading Flash comics. Metafiction in the 60s! Awesome!

My three favorites, though, HAVE to be the epic "Death of Superman" story, where Luthor finally defeats Superman, but ultimately pays the price for his crime by the reveal of Supergirl (who, at the time, was not known to the rest of the world).

It held such an emotional punch.

I really loved the part where Luthor is confident that the Kandorians will make a deal with him, presuming everyone is motivated by looking out for themselves. CLASSIC scene.

The remaining two great ones are both marred slightly by sketchy behavior (which, as everyone knows, was sorta par for the course in the comics of the time).

The first, a really well-executed tale of Jimmy Olsen and Supergirl getting married, is slightly marred by the fact that Supergirl's plan to break the news to Jimmy that she is really Supergirl by trying to seduce him AS Supergirl, so when she reveals that SHE is Supergirl, he will take the shock well. In addition, as Shutt mentions, we have to buy into the conceit that Jimmy never realizes that Linda is wearing a brown wig the entire time that they are married.

Jimmy has some worrisome bragging problems in the story, but ultimately, he comes out pretty well, as he holds true to his marriage vows.

But most of all, I really enjoyed the chemistry between the two. By allowing themselves the freedom of the imaginary story, they really allowed a real, mature, realistic relationship to blossom.

Quite impressive.

The last, and possibly most famous, story of the bunch, is the Superman Red/Superman Blue story.

The problem that slightly marred THIS tale for me is the basic premise. The people of Kandor get together to bitch out Superman for not accomplishing enough.

Can you believe the NERVE?!?!

They give him six months to basically solve all of mankind's problems, or else they demand he switch places with the Kandorians, and let one of THEM try to do what he couldn't.

So JERKISH!

However, the rest of the tale is just blanket optimism. Superman ends up splitting into two to get better results, and MAN, from then on, every panel has something awesome in it.

More awesome things happen in a PAGE of this story than most comics have happen in multiple ISSUES!!

And then, just to throw a mindfreak at us, at the end, they ask the reader to answer, "Which Superman (Red or Blue) ended up with the better life?"

Finally, the last, coolest aspect of the collection is the multitudes of little covers from OTHER imaginary stories, ones that they DIDN'T end up using...and there are some real doozies.

DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories - I cannot imagine a better book for you to spend twenty bucks on (as I am sure you cannot imagine a dorkier ending to this entry).

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I'm so proud

While I was mulling over yesterday's purchases (mainly because I haven't finished reading them yet), I was thinking about comic books I own that I'm proud I bought. These are comics that I bought when they first came out, not that I dug through the back-issue boxes to get. And I'm not talking about particularly valuable comics, since the price of any one comic fluctuates wildly. I'm just talking about a comic I thought was cool and bought, and now it might be rare or it might have a "cool cachet" surrounding it. I'm also not talking about a book everyone knows is cool from the get-go. I'm glad that I bought From Hell in its serialized form, but I'm not proud of it, because it's freakin' Alan Moore, after all. I'm talking about buying Swamp Thing #20 because you thought it was cool, and years later everyone suddenly realizes it's Alan Moore and must have it.¹ With that in mind, I'm only proud of a few things that I bought just because I thought they would be neat:

The Flex Mentallo mini-series. How many of you out there have actually read it? I'm just wondering. If you haven't, it's totally worth a large chunk of your change. With DC finally having the balls to reprint the Doom Patrol story in which Flex debuted, maybe they'll have the stones to collect this in a trade. For recent comics history (the past 20 years or so), is this the Holy Grail? If not, what is?

Aztek #1-10. Yes, another Morrison title. You might think it's cheating to name his titles, since he is GOD OF ALL COMICS, but back in the mid-1990s, he wasn't. Sure, he was popular, but it didn't help this book, did it? Now, it seems everyone thinks this is the greatest thing ever. It's not, but it's damned good.

Shade, the Changing Man by Milligan and Bachalo is another comic I'm kind of proud of. I bought it from the beginning, and despite weakening after issue #30 or so, it was still a fine, fine book and early on it was genius. I guess I'd be prouder if I bought Skreemer when it first came out, but I wasn't that cutting-edge.

That's really about it. I suppose I'm proud that I bought Millar's run on Swamp Thing, but even though I think it's second only to Moore's early issues on the title, no one else seems to be clamoring for it to be out in trades and bemoans their lack of purchasing it. I'm also proud of the fact that I started buying Ostrander's Suicide Squad with issue #40 ("The Phoenix Gambit"!), but since that was in the middle of the run, it's kind of bandwagon jumping, although I doubt if SS was ever as popular when it was published as it is these days (and it's a great comic, by the way). I guess I'm kind of proud of the fact that I bought the Miracleman trades before the shit hit the fan, because they apparently don't exist anymore.

So what do you people own that makes you feel proud and way ahead of your time because you bought it when it hit the stands? Anyone out there own Jinx in serial form? Warrior mags with D.R. and Quinch? Willingham's Elementals? Werewolf by Night #32?

¹ I'm perfectly aware that "The Anatomy Lesson" is issue #21. Moore's first issue on the title was #20.

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Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #11!

This is the eleventh in a series of examinations of comic book urban legends and whether they are true or false. The first one can be found here, the second can be found here, the third can be found here, the fourth can be found here, the fifth can be found here, the sixth can be found here, the seventh can be found here, the eighth can be found here, the ninth can be found here
and the tenth can be found here.

Let's begin!

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: Marvel killed off a Thunderbolts character because of a rights problem.

STATUS: True

In the pages of Wizard, there was a contest held to let the fans figure out who would be the next villain faced by the Thunderbolts.

The winning entry was introduced in the pages of Thunderbolts #19, and his name was Charcoal, the Burning Man.

However, this character, invented to be a one-shot villain, turned out to be TOO good of a creation, as he was quickly added as a MEMBER of the Thunderbolts for the next almost 40 issues, but was abruptly killed in a battle with Graviton in the mid-#50s.

As it turned out, the creator of Charcoal never officially signed over the rights to the character to Marvel, and they just could not iron the kinks of the deal out, so Marvel decided to instead just get rid of the character.

So, basically, it is highly unlikely that you will ever see Charcoal in the pages of a Marvel comic again. Heck, it is highly unlikely that you will ever see the name MENTIONED again.

Which is too bad, as he was a good character.

(Thanks to Chris Arndt for filling in some details)

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: John Byrne left Jack Kirby off of the 20th anniversary cover of Fantastic Four.

STATUS: False

In 1981, the Fantastic Four celebrated their 20th anniversary with a special double-sized issue for #236.

The story is considered to be one of the best stories in John Byrne's five-plus years as writer/artist on Fantastic Four, but one notable problem seemed to present itself on the cover.



Pictured among the characters celebrating the Fantastic Four's anniversary is Stan Lee, co-creator of the Fantastic Four, but nowhere in the picture is Jack Kirby.

Why did Byrne draw in Lee, but not Kirby?

Was Byrne making a statement about who he thought was the REAL creator of the Fantastic Four?

As it turns out, it was nothing of the sort.

When Byrne turned in the art, Kirby WAS in the drawing.

At the behest of Editor-in-Chief, Jim Shooter, Kirby was removed from the piece (for what reasons, we do not know, although it likely had to do with the arguments at the time over Kirby wanting his older art returned to him, but I honestly do not know what Shooter's motivations were).

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: Roger Stern left Avengers over Captain Marvel's leadership of the team.

STATUS: True

In 1982, Roger Stern introduced a new Marvel superhero, who he gave the (then available) name of Captain Marvel.

This young heroine joined the Avengers as a member-in-training, and soon rose in the ranks until the point, in 1987, that she became the leader of the Avengers. Which was a notable feat for one of the first significant black female superhero.

This was all fine and good, but in 1988, Avengers editor, Mark Gruenwald, had different ideas about the character. He wanted Captain America to become the leader of the team (conspiracy theories abound that since Gruenwald was the writer of Captain America's book, that he wanted Cap to lead the Avengers to aid in publicizing Captain America's title...which I do not think is fair to Gruenwald. It is just as likely that he just decided that it was better for the book for it to go down like this).

However, Gruenwald did not just want to have Captain America become the leader, he also wanted Captain Marvel to be shown as an inferior leader before she was taken off the team (presumably to further show how adept Captain America is at the role).

Stern, creator of the character, reasonably balked at this change, as he felt such a move would be hard to do without looking racist or sexist, and therefore, Stern, who had been writing the title for the past 60 issues or so, was taken off the book, and replaced by Ralph Macchio and then Walt Simonson, who both basically followed Gruenwald's prescribed plot path (until Simonson then took the book in his own direction).

Which is a shame, as the decision really took Captain Marvel, who at the time had become as mainstream as you could get, off the road of "mainstream" basically for good.

Well, that's it for me this week!

Feel free to tell me some urban legends you have heard, and I will try to confirm or deny them!

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Guest Entry - "This Comic Is Bad - Team Titans #1"

"I always get a kick out of Comics Should Be Good. Because, really, this blog communicates something very vital and important which we should all keep close to our hearts: comics should be good. It goes without saying that oftentimes they’re not.

So, of course I was flattered when Brian asked me if I’d like to contribute a guest installment. It would have perhaps been better if the invitation hadn’t been phrased as something along the lines “hey, Old Man, aren’t you supposed to be dead yet?” But really, I’m just glad someone noticed that, yes, I am still alive!



Where to begin with Team Titans . . . ah yes. This was one of the absolute worst examples of 90s excess. Many new number ones back in those days, like today, had variant covers. But Team Titans was different - Team Titans #1 had variant interiors. Yes, there were five different versions of the first issue, with different lead stories in each. See, there were five new characters introduced here, and five different origins to recap. At $1.75 a pop, that added up to $8.75 for anyone who wanted to read the entire story - no small chunk of change, even by today’s standards.

By the way, did I mention that Team Titans #1 was also part three of a nine part crossover with New Titans and Deathstroke? (Wait, with the five variant editions of TT #1, wasn’t it technically a thirteen part crossover?) Yeah. See, I figure that about this time, everyone at DC was trying to convince themselves that, just because Teen Titans had been - for a very brief time in the early 80s - a sales leader on par with X-Men, the franchise still had enough legs to support an entire family of titles. Well, Team Titans only lasted two whole years before it was not only cancelled but retconned out of existence, which should tell you something about how successful a notion that turned out to be.

This is one of those books that DC probably regrets publishing. In addition to the numerous questionable marketing decisions involved in the launch, reading the story is just sort of painful. Not that the book itself is really that bad - it’s perfectly serviceable, as far as these things go - but because almost everything in this book contradicts something else that has since occurred. If you’re only familiar with the modern day DCU, you need an Ovaltine decoder ring to understand anything. As it is, I needed to consult a couple online fansites myself, and I know a thing or two about convoluted continuity.

For starters, there’s the whole Donna Troy thing. It’s almost become a kind of rite of passage for DC writers: see how badly you can fuck up Donna Troy. Considering that the character was actually created as a result of editorial oversight (long story), it’s like every subsequent editorial generation has somehow felt the need to poke the wound of her anomalous origins. No revamped origin or retcon treatment has been good enough to last more than a few years. No horrible, degrading act has been terrible enough for poor Ms. Troy.

Take, oh, Team Titans #1. For the entire duration of the comic, she’s in labor. Yes, we’re talking half-naked, dripping sweat, grimacing in pain, clutching a white sheet to her chest. There are running firefights going on all around her. Ray-blasts and bullets whizzing through the air. Her son from the future (some bozo named Lord Chaos) has traveled back in time to ensure that he ends up being born so he can conquer the world and bring about a totalitarian regime in roughly the year 1997. Finally, when the child is born - in a stinky, shaking cave, no less - her son from the future (Lord Chaos) grabs her infant son from her gaping womb (not yet Lord Chaos) and blasts poor Donna, seemingly killing her. Of course, she’s obviously not dead yet, because she still had another decade and a half of being brutally murdered and raped ahead of her. Of course, her husband, son and backstory are gone by the time she gets around to waking up in the even less intelligible Return of Donna Troy miniseries.

(You know, I actually liked the first half of John Byrne’s run on Wonder Woman - lots of fun superhero action - but the whole thing about Donna Troy being raped and murdered throughout all of history just seems kind of gratuitous in retrospect, doesn’t it?)

So, where were we? Ah yes, the Team Titans are, um, clones or something who have traveled back from the far future - all the way from 1999, when giant robots ruled the earth - to kill Donna Troy so she doesn’t give birth to Lord Chaos. One of them happens to call herself Terra, but none of the Titans seemed bothered by the presence of someone showing up who just happens to be the spitting image of the girl who betrayed their trust, broke their hearts and tried to kill them.

Deathstroke was apparently a good guy when all this happened. Which I don’t understand, considering that from the little I know of Titans history, he tried to kill the Titans in a number of ways on a number of occasions. Now, of course, he’s a bad guy again, because he’s skulking around those Infinite Crisis crossovers looking all evil and stuff. I’m sure when the other villains ask him what he was doing in 1992 he just sort of coughs and tries to change the subject.

Remember how I said the book only lasted two years? Well, they cancelled this sucker around the time of Zero Hour. They also, coincidentally, used Zero Hour as an excuse to wipe every last vestige of this book under the rug forever. If the whole thing about the alternate future and Lord Chaos sounded familiar, well, it obviously did to someone at DC as well, because they used Zero Hour to tie the Team Titans future in with Armageddon 2001, which just so happened to have had a nearly identical plot. Turns out Monarch (Hawk, later Extant) created the Team Titans future as some kind of incubator universe to breed a race of superhuman foot-soldiers who could do his bidding in the event of Hal Jordan trying to collapse all of reality. But - heh! - that wacky Time Trapper secretly tampered with Monarch’s plans to create a group of Team Titans who would rebel against Monarch (then known as Extant) in order to foil his machinations - which they did, but no one cared.

So - let’s recap. DC, after the first Crisis, wasn’t supposed to have alternate timelines. Writers kept creating alternate futures, so they were all wiped out during Zero Hour. The Team Titans were wiped from existence, except for Terra and Nightshade, who were eventually revealed to be - stay with me! - a mindwiped version of the real Terra and a Brazilian street urchin. The sad thing is, if they had just waited a few years they could have just said “Hypertime” and everything would have been OK. Now every Titans book from this period makes no sense - actually, less than any sense. There is a debit of sense in these books.

This book was so good they needed to pull out two time-traveling dues ex machine super villains to straighten things out - one of them on loan from the Legion of Super-Heroes, no less. You know that if you need to borrow plot devices from the Legion in order to straighten out your continuity messes, you have definitely screwed up somewhere along the line.

And I can’t not mention the fact that everyone seems to be sporting a mullet in this comic book. I mean, Nightwing’s sporting the whole full-on Aqua Net Mötley Crüe mullet, Changeling’s got the old school “business in front, party in back” goin’ down . . . there’s some amazing hair in here.

Why, you ask, do I even own such a horrible comic? Well, I bought it a week ago in a quarter box, because the first story just happens to be drawn by one Mr. Adam Hughes.

Yeah, I know - he draws a lot of scantily-clad chicks. But you know what? I don’t care. He also happens to be one of the very best artists in mainstream comics. There’s a reason his women look so good - because he just plain knows how to draw really well. His guys are also quite hunky, but he doesn’t get paid to emphasize man-packages - he gets paid lots of money to accentuate cleavage. More men buy comics than women - can you blame Hughes for following the money? (Well, yeah, you can, but that’s a different story, probably one better suited to Cognitive Dissonance than Comics Should Be Good.)

Anyway, I’ll buy anything he draws, I freely admit this. I couldn’t care less who this Redwing person is whose origin he happens to be drawing here, I just know that it’s beautifully drawn. My god - the chiaroscuro is brilliant! Kevin Maquire always gets the credit for having expressive faces, but he’s nothing compared to Hughes, who doesn’t make everyone look like they’re mugging on a Vaudeville stage. His figures have mass and weight, and move through three-dimensions. It’s a shame he’s so damn slow - he makes a damn good living doing airbrushed pictures of Lara Croft and whatnot for Wizard, so it’s not like he has to stretch. But even his most gratuitous cheesecake stuff is gorgeous to look at.

Incidentally, I’m surprised no one has picked up on Bob Schreck’s pretty-unsubtle inference that Hughes is going to be drawing an All-Star Wonder Woman in the near future. The whole “There are tortoises and hares. We have a lot of tortoises and very few hares”, seems like a pretty dead giveaway to me. I mean, seriously, who else would you get to draw the book? Even if it takes him forever and a day to draw a single page, you just know it’ll be gorgeous when all is said and done. I’ll probably end up buying that, too, even if they get Brian Pulido and Jim Balent to tag-team the writing."

Check out Tim O'Neil's blog, The Hurting.

He is still alive, and writing cool things on it.

Read More

Current Comics Report for 8/10

This is a report about what I think about the comics of this week, based upon Diamond's Shipping This Week list, as reprinted below, with my (sometimes quite snarky, so be forewarned) comments.

Certain sections of the Current Report on the 8/10 Comic Book Week contain forward-looking statements that are based on my expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions. Words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “believe,” “estimate” and variations of these words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, which include but are not limited to projections of books being good, writing performance, character flaws, artistic coolness and continued title stability.

Forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Prognasticators Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual future results and trends may differ materially from what is forecast in forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including, without limitation:

• A book being better than I thought it would be;

• A different creative team on a book;

• A different type of story than I thought it was;

• Differences in anticipated and actual performance by the writer and/or artist

All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this report or, in the case of any document incorporated by reference, the date of that document.All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to me are qualified by the cautionary statements in this section...

Shipping This Week: August 10, 2005

DARK HORSE

APR050031 CONCRETE VOL 1 DEPTHS TP $12.95

Read this comic.

Then read Chadwick's Dazzler work.

Then shudder.

APR050066 MAN WITH THE SCREAMING BRAIN BUST $39.99

Think about it. For this to be ready by now, they must have begun production BEFORE the series came out.

Kinda ballsy, isn't it?

To presume that your comic is going to be soooo popular that you will be able to sell a bust based on it?

JAN050076 SAMURAI HEAVEN & EARTH #4 (OF 5) $2.99

Luke Ross...that's another artist who has just grown by leaps and bounds since he started in the business. Good to see.

DC COMICS

JUN050438 100 BULLETS #63 (MR) $2.75
JUN050347 ACTION COMICS #830 $2.50

Anyone want to join me on the "Free Action Comics!" bandwagon?

Where we protest the involvement of a cool comic like Action Comics in the unending world of crossover land?

Come aboard, there is plenty of room!

JUN050355 ADAM STRANGE PLANET HEIST TP $19.99

I estimate that this comic would be more enjoyable if the last issue was just left missing, and people had to guess how it ended, rather than see a promising story devolve into a prelude for a lame comic.

JUN050327 BATMAN #643 $2.50

I estimate that this storyline will be Anderson Gabrych's attempt at finally ending the whole "Batman is a total dick" stuff from War Games.

Part of that will be that Spoiler is not really dead.

All the signs are there.

JUN050332 BATMAN LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #194 $2.50

Seth Fisher is a really great artist.

This story, though?

I'm not feeling it.

JUN050357 BREACH #8 $2.50

Marcos Martin is a fine, fine artist.

FEB050366 CATWOMAN MINI STATUE $39.99

Have they come to the conclusion yet that they could paint, like, 5% of the figures a different color and say "Rare Variant"?

If not....I'm sorry, statue buyers!!

JUN050440 FABLES #40 (MR) $2.75
JUN050364 GREEN ARROW #53 $2.50
JUN050367 HAWKMAN #43 $2.50
JUN050372 JLA #117 $2.50

I predict that there will be at least one nod to a previous Geoff Johns work in this comic, like the last issue, where there was an allusion to an earlier issue of Hawkamn.

JUN050402 MAD CLASSICS #2 $4.99
JUN050401 MAD MAGAZINE #457 $3.99
JUN050425 MAJESTIC #8 $2.99
JUN050444 MNEMOVORE #5 (OF 6) (MR) $2.99
JUN050335 NIGHTWING #111 $2.50

A funny thing would be to look at a Titans comic book from circa 1985 with Nightwing and Deathstroke....then 1995....and then 2005, and see how their relationship has changed so dramatically over the years.

JUN050381 OUTSIDERS #27 $2.50
MAY050282 PROMETHEA COVERS BOOK SC $5.99
JUN050383 RANN THANAGAR WAR #4 (OF 6) $2.50

I estimate that this comic will be much easier to read if you happen to know every single DC comic ever published.

If you don't?

Ooooh...sorry.

JUN050398 SCOOBY DOO #99 $2.25
MAY050252 SEVEN SOLDIERS ZATANNA #3 (OF 4) $2.99
JUN050342 SUPERGIRL #0 $2.99

I estimate that this comic will serve as a very strong intelligence test.

Ready?

See how many people buy this while also owning a copy of Superman/Batman #19.

Those people will essentially have paid $2.99 for the sake of a cover and a title.

I think that there should be some computer program put into place that if the UPC code for both Superman/Batman #19 and Supergirl #0 are rung up at the same time, a small boot will come out from under the counter and kick the purchaser in the crotch.

If the purchaser is a male, it will hopefully curtail his breeding capabilities.

If the purchaser is a female...well...I bet that would still hurt.

JUN050341 SUPERGIRL #1 $2.99

Tadhg asked me yesterday, "How did the people who put Supergirl in the rocket know that yellow rays would give her superpowers?"

It's a fine question.

Any answers out there?

FEB050364 THE BATMAN THE JOKER MAQUETTE $89.99
JUN050389 VILLAINS UNITED #4 (OF 6) $2.50

Anyone see the cover of #6? That's gotta be a red herring, right?

Then again...it looked like Blue Beetle on the cover of Countdown...

JUN050429 WINTER MEN #1 (OF 8) (MR) $2.99

What was the last project John Paul Leon worked on? I predict that the art will be AMAZING on this comic.

JUN050391 WORLDS FINEST ARCHIVES VOL 3 HC $49.99

IMAGE

MAR051731 ADAM HUGHES WITCHBLADE #86 LITHO SGN $29.99
APR051716 ADAM HUGHES WITCHBLADE #87 LITHO SGN $29.99
MAY051528 BODY BAGS FATHERS DAY SGN #1 (OF 2) (MR) $19.99

I would like to see Jason Pearson sign this comic for, like, a teenaged girl.

Just for the awkwardness of the situation.

JUN051845 CITY OF HEROES #4 $2.99

Is this still a Mark Waid issue, or has Troy Hickman's run begun yet?

MAY051597 ERIC BASALDUA MAGDALENA #1 LITHO $19.99
MAY051598 ERIC BASALDUA MAGDALENA #1 LITHO SGN $29.99
JUN051752 FERRO CITY #1 $2.99

Is this by the artist from The Ray?

JUN051763 GUN FU TP $14.95
MAY058159 HUNTER KILLER VOL 1 COLL ED (PP #679) $4.99

Wow...a collected edition already!

MAY051565 MAGE VOL 2 THE HERO DEFINED HC $49.95
JUN051836 NECROMANCER BACHALO CVR #1 $2.99
JUN051835 NECROMANCER HORN CVR #1 $2.99
JUN051834 NECROMANCER MANAPUL CVR #1 $2.99

Enough money to make three covers...but not enough for an actual story?

APR051684 NOBLE CAUSES #12 $3.50
MAR051702 PIGTALE #3 $2.99

I think the decision to change this to OGNs was a wise one.

MAY051593 TERRY DODSON WITCHBLADE #88 LITHO $19.99
JUN051757 WINGS OF ANANSI ONE SHOT $6.99

MARVEL

APR051905 CAPTAIN AMERICA #8 $2.99

It HAS to be Bucky, by the way, because if it ISN'T, then the answer would have to include such ridiculous convoluted reasons that it would just be silly.

Far less silly to just have it be Bucky.

Even if that is silly.

Which I'm not saying it is.

JAN058158 CAPTAIN AMERICA JOE JUSKO VARIANT COVER #8 $2.99
JUN052072 ESSENTIAL DAREDEVIL VOL 3 TP $16.99
JUN052036 EXILES #68 $2.99
JUN058073 FANTASTIC FOUR HOUSE OF M LTD ED VARIANT #1 $2.99

No second prints here!!

LIMITED EDITION, BABY!

JUN052012 GRAVITY #3 (OF 5) $2.99
JUN051975 HOUSE OF M #5 (OF 8) $2.99

When's the next issue that messes people up? Is this the one?

JAN058164 HOUSE OF M MCKONE VARIANT COVER #5 (OF 8) $2.99
JUN052069 HULK TEMPEST FUGIT TP $14.99
JUN051984 INCREDIBLE HULK #85 $2.99

I believe that Peter David is into this crossover far more than he should be.

JUN058074 INCREDIBLE HULK LTD ED VARIANT #83 $2.99
MAY051789 IRON MAN #4 $2.99

I predict that this will likely be one helluva 1/2 of a comic book.

JUN058075 IRON MAN HOUSE OF M LTD ED VARIANT #1 $2.99
JUN052045 KABUKI REFLECTIONS BOOK #5 $5.99
JUN052026 MARVEL NEMESIS IMPERFECTS #4 (OF 6) $2.99

Pak tried, he really did.

JUN052015 MEGA MORPHS #1 (OF 4) $2.99

I predict that, since this is Sean McKeever we are talking about here, that we will see the most ambitious toy line tie-in comic since Priest's classic Total Justice series.

JUN058081 MUTOPIA X LTD ED VARIANT #1 $2.99
JUN052024 NEW WARRIORS #3 (OF 6) $2.99

I predict a strong issue from Wells here.

JUN052038 ORORO BEFORE THE STORM #3 (OF 4) $2.99

This comic will tie in to the Twelve storyline.

That does not bode well for this comic book.

JUN052043 PUNISHER #24 (MR) $2.99
JUN052053 RUNAWAYS VOL 1 HC $34.99

I anticipate looking at this collection of EIGHTEEN comics for $35, and then looking at the fact that Marvel is charging $22 for a hardcover of SEVEN Captain America comics, and $20 for SIX New Avengers comics, and then saying..."What the hell?!?!"

JUN052005 SHANNA THE SHE DEVIL #7 (OF 7) (MR) $3.50
JUN051998 SPIDER-MAN BREAKOUT #5 (OF 5) $2.99

I estimate that we will learn more about the U-Foes' personalities than we ever thought was possible in this comic.

JUN051999 TOXIN #5 (OF 6) $2.99

I predict it will be good. STILL!

Believe me, folks!

JUN051991 ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #22 $2.50
JUN052050 ULTIMATE MARVEL FLIP MAGAZINE #3 $3.99
JUN052051 ULTIMATE TALES FLIP MAGAZINE #3 $3.99
JUN051990 ULTIMATES ANNUAL #1 (MR) $3.99

Steve Dillon becomes the first artist other than Hitch to draw the Ultimates in an Ultimates comic.

Hard to find an artist who ISN'T a drop off from Hitch, but they found him.

JUN052063 UNCANNY X-MEN NEW AGE VOL 3 ON ICE TP $15.99

Nice title.

It WOULD explain the stories in Uncanny X-Men if they WERE, in fact, thawed out old stories Claremont had laying around.

JUN052029 X-MEN #174 $2.50

WIZARD

JUN052637 BUFFY BOOK OF VENGEANCE EX TOY 3 PACK PI
JUN052638 SPIKE ANGEL FOOL FOR LOVE TOYFARE EX FIGURE (O/ PI
JUN052628 TOYFARE MARVEL LEGENDS PREMIERE CVR #98 $4.99

I saw one of those new superhero toys where you can have the figures fight each other. That sounded neat. Why couldn't these things be around when I was a kid?

COMICS

MAY052491 100 GIRLS #5 $2.95
MAY052914 2000 AD #1447 $4.10
MAY052915 2000 AD #1448 $4.10
MAY052825 24 MIDNIGHT SUN ONE SHOT $7.49

I predict that this comic will be a fun read.

APR052986 A G SUPER EROTIC ANTHOLOGY #16 (A) $4.99
JUN052938 BABEL #1 (O/A) (MR) $9.95
MAY053136 BANANA FISH VOL 9 TP $9.95
MAY052502 BETTY & VERONICA #211 $2.25
MAY052947 BIZENGHAST VOL 1 GN $9.99
JUN053270 BOX OFFICE POISON COMPLETE NEW EDITION TP (O/A) $29.95

I predict that if you have not already read this comic, and you purchase it today, that you will not be displeased.

MAY053144 BOYS OVER FLOWERS VOL 13 TP $9.99
APR052717 CANTON KID #2 (OF 4) $3.50
JUN053080 CAST #2 $2.99
MAY052944 CLASSIC DAN DARE VOL 6 OPERATION SATURN PART 2 HC $19.95
JUN053066 COBALT WARRIOR ANGEL #0 $3.95
JUN053158 COLLECTED BEOWULF 2ND ED TP (O/A) (MR) $15.95
JUN052653 COMIC BOOK LETTERING THE COMICRAFT WAY (O/A) $9.95
APR052883 COMICS JOURNAL LIBRARY VOL 5 CLASSIC COMICS ILLUSTRATORS TP $22.95
JUN053094 DE SKETCHITOES FSC SKETCHBOOK (O/A) $9.99

What is a sketchitoes?

APR052860 DF BLACK PANTHER #1 QUESADA SGN $49.99
MAR052878 DF FANTASTIC FOUR #527 SGN $29.99
JUN053268 DICK TRACY DEATH OF A HOOD / KROYWEN SERUM $9.50
JUN053267 DICK TRACY FUR KING / OUT OF THE PAST $9.50
MAY053156 DOLLS VOL 4 GN $9.99
MAY052809 EASY WAY #4 (OF 4) (MR) $3.99

Kuhn, too, is an artist who has grown a lot as an artist over the years.

JUN053012 ELKS RUN VOL 1 #3 (MR) $3.00
MAY053091 EXCEL SAGA VOL 13 TP $9.99
APR052937 EYE CANDY MANGA CONVENTION CVR (MR) $10.00
APR052938 EYE CANDY MANGA PX CVR (MR) $14.95
JUN052783 FATHOM #3 $2.99

I love how Turner is "exclusive" to Marvel, but can work on Fathom, too.

MAY053162 FEED AMERICAS CHILDREN FEATURING MAJOR IMPACT #1 $4.99
MAY052365 FEMFORCE RARE GEMS PACK $23.95
MAY052366 FEMFORCE SOMETHING SPECIAL PACK $24.95

Note to self: Somethign special is better than rare gems, or at least worth a dollar more.

APR052506 FEMFORCE VICTORY REBORN GN $15.95
MAY052856 FINDER VOL 7 THE RESCUERS TP $16.95
MAY053092 FLAME OF RECCA VOL 13 TP $9.99
JUN053063 FRAGILE PROPHET #1 (OF 4) (MR) $2.95
APR052737 GALAXY ANGEL PARTY VOL 1 GN (RES) $9.99
MAY052972 GET BACKERS VOL 11 GN (OF 26) (MR) $9.99
JUN052868 GI JOE HORN EXCLUSIVE CVR #22 $9.99

Wow, so THAT's the going rate for digital drawings of boobs?

Good to know.

MAY052973 HANDS OFF VOL 4 GN (OF 8) $9.99
MAY052771 HELL MICHIGAN #2 (MR) $2.95

This series will be good.

JUN053153 HERO AT LARGE #1 $2.99
JUN052858 HERO SQUARED XTRA SIZED SP BRAINLESS SITCOM ED #1 $6.99

At least they are being up front about what you would have to be to buy this version.

JUN052738 HIROSHIMA THE ATOMIC HOLOCAUST #1 (OF 2) $3.99
MAY052953 HONEY MUSTARD VOL 1 GN (OF 4) $9.99
MAY052625 JENNA JAMESON CARNAL 2 PACK (A) $10.95
APR052968 JON SABLE FREELANCE BLOODLINE #3 (OF 6) $3.99
JUN053124 JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE #234 $11.99
MAY052504 JUGHEAD AND FRIENDS DIGEST #4 $2.39
MAY052818 KARNEY #4 (OF 4) (MR) $3.99

I have not found an issue yet, is it good?

MAY053094 KEKKAISHI VOL 2 GN $9.99
MAY052817 LEGEND OF GRIMJACK VOL 3 HC $39.99
MAY052992 LIZZIE MCGUIRE CINEMANGA VOL 13 GN (OF 15) $7.99
JUN053084 LUCIFERS GARDEN OF VERSES VOL 1 DEVIL ON FEVER STREET GN $8.95
MAY053114 MAISON IKKOKU VOL 12 2ND ED TP $9.95
APR052890 MOME VOL 1 GN $14.95
MAY052382 MORT GRIM $5.00

Doug Fraser is a strong talent, so I predict that this will be an eventful, and engagin series.

JUN053056 MYSTIC FUNNIES #2 (O/A) $4.95
JUN053050 NIGHT #1 (MR) $2.95
MAY053096 NO NEED FOR TENCHI VOL 4 2ND ED TP $9.99
APR052553 OZF5 GALE FORCE ONE SHOT $4.99
MAY052506 PALS N GALS DOUBLE DIGEST #96 $3.59
MAY052977 PASSION FRUIT VOL 2 GALAXY GIRL PANDA BOY GN (OF 3) $9.99
APR052889 PECULIA & THE GROON GROVE VAMPIRES GN $9.95

I admire different takes on horror stories, althought I am afraid that that field is getting quite crowded recently.

MAY052411 PENNY & AGGIE #3 (OF 4) $2.99

I like this series. I enjoy the "sketchy Betty and Veronica."

MAY053097 RANMA 1/2 VOL 31 TP $9.95
APR053020 REVISIONARY #1 (MR) $2.95
JUN053057 SACRED & PROFANE (MR) $4.95
MAY053160 SENSUAL PHRASE VOL 9 TP (MR) $9.99
JUN053289 SHOJO BEAT SEP 05 VOL 1 #3 $5.99
JUN053058 SHORT ORDER COMIX (MR) $2.95
MAY052507 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #152 $2.25
JUN053272 SPIRAL BOUND GN $14.95

Shawn Hoke said you should buy it.

Don't make him go on a killing spree.

Just buy it.

JUN052842 SPRINGHEELED JACK #3 (OF 3) $4.50
MAY052626 STICKBOY FREAKY SEX 2 PACK (A) $6.95
JUN052862 TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE #29 (O/A) (MR) $2.95
MAY052609 TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE DLX ED #33 (MR) $19.99
JUN052861 TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE SGN ED #29 (MR) $10.00

I think the reason why a signed edition of Tarot is so low is that when people look at the signature, they realize, "Oh yeah, this is written and drawn by Jim Balent...what am I doing?!?!"

MAY052993 THATS SO RAVEN CINEMANGA VOL 5 GN (OF 7) $7.99

I reviewed a That's So Raven Cinemanga comic awhile back. It is an interesting reading experience.

MAY053049 THE KING GN $19.95
JUN053269 TRICKED GN $19.95
MAY052638 TRUE STORY SWEAR TO GOD #14 $2.95

I think all the characters should dress up as superheroes.

APR052941 WILD CHERRYS TEASE PX ED (MR) $14.95
JUN053095 WILDFLOWER VOL 1 BEGINNINGS SIGNED TP $14.99

Well, that's it for me!

Feel free to check back later to tell me how off my predictions were!

Read More

Three 8/3 Books That I Read So That You Did Not Have To

As always, I tell you about three comics that I did not hear a lot about this week, and then I ask you all to fill me in on comics that I did not read this week.

Spoilers ahead!

Strangers in Paradise #75

This was yet another good issue of Strangers in Paradise, which is becoming more and more of an expected event rather than a pleasant surprise.

The issue is split into four different plots, all of which kept my interest.

The first, Francine's visit with her mother, who has embraced her past as a pin-up girl, and all of Francine's relatives are helping out. Really funny stuff, especially the aunt who is very upset about a certain election that she thinks MUST have been riggged....hehe...that one was particularly amusing. At the same itme, Terry Moore gives a real gentle exuberance to Francine's familial interactions. Good stuff.

The next plot is David finding out some bad news. Handled well. Short and to the point.

The Emily and Freddy plot continues to impress me. I just love how Moore has actually made Freddy an almost likable character, to the point where it does not really SHOCK us that Emily is intrigued by him. And Freddy is always good for a couple of laughs.

Katchoo's plot is basically showing what happens when she hears what she WANTS to hear...but she is not expecting it. Powerful bit there.

The art by Moore is always strong.

Recommended!

Marvel Team-Up #11

This was Kirkman trying to out-Giffen and DeMatteis Giffen and DeMatteis and out-Bendis Bendis.

I do not think that it ultimately WORKED, but I think it was an admirable attempt.

The plot of the issue is that Dr. Strange is forced to recruit a bunch of superheroes to fight Titanus, the big bad.

The heroes he recruits are Spider-Man, Nova, She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel, with Wolverine already being on the scene.

The exchanges between all the heroes are intended to evoke both the "just regular guys" humor of Giffen and DeMatteis as well as the "Weird things about beign a superhero" dialogue that Bendis does so often.

I think a lot of it did not ring all that true, except, I think, for some of Nova and Spider-Man's exchanges. "I thought I was OLDER than you!" Hehe.

And I liked to see Jen and Carol hang out. They seem like they would be friends.

The fight scenes were nothing to write home about.

I like Kolins' art, but I know he is an acquired taste.

So, while I admire Kirkman's INTENT, I don't think this was a complete package, so..

Not Recommended!

Superman #220

This issue was not good.

Now do not get me wrong, I understand the pressures that come with writing a DC comic book nowadays.

Nunzio DeFillippis and Christina Weir mentioned that, in their upcoming FILL-IN issue of Adventures of Superman, they had to reference OMAC, the other Superman titles, Identity Crisis, etc.

So yeah, it is hard to write a comic when you are forced to deal with the current continuity explicitly (it is almost like they are trying to force you to read all the Superman titles to get the full story...almost as if each issue had a triangle on the cover telling you what order to read them in...but no, DC thought that was a silly idea, right?), but Mark Verheiden still did a poor job with it in this issue.

Seriously, am I really supposed to dig reading a Superman comic where Superman and Superboy team up to talk about how bad their lives are? And how they are such dangers to their loved ones?

And that's basically the WHOLE issue!

Credit is due to Verheiden for doing stuff Azzarello did not, which was to pay attention to Superman comics of the past, and detail how events would affect other stories that were in place BEFORE he wrote the book, but really, all Verheiden did was bring back the Eradicator in the issue.

No one learned a lesson.

No one grew as a character.

Hell, plots were not even moved forward, really, at all.

This was just the ultimate "treading water" issue.

Tony Daniel's art was pretty good in the issue, though. I was not all that impressed with his anatomy, but he laid the book out well, I thought.

Not Recommended!

Now on to the books that I did not read, so I was hoping you might have read them and could tell me what I missed out on:

Emo Boy #2

Fat Boy and Harvey #1

Darkness #22

Son of Vulcan #3

Thanks!

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Comic Stores Should Be Good - Rocketship

I totally missed the opening of this great new comic store in Brooklyn (I have a very valid excuse, as I was not IN New York at the time), but for all of you New York readers out there (or folks who might be visiting New York at one point or another), make sure to check out Rocketship.

You may recall Alex from this very blog, and if you recall Alex, you have to realize how much of a good thing this comic shop is.

A comic book store by someone who loves comics and who founded the comic shop under the basis of the following manisfesto:

1. Comics can be Art and Literature of the Highest Caliber.

2. Cartoon Art should be exhibited, admired, and generally have a wider availability for appreciative fans.

3. Comic Fans deserve more stores that are clean, well stocked, and well organized.

4. Everybody Loves Comics, even if they don't know it yet.

What other word describes that but "Good"?

As for directions, the store is located at 208 Smith Street (between Butler and Baltic) in the fine borough of Brooklyn, New York.

You can get there by taking the subway (the F Train) to Bergen street.

The phone number for the store is 718-797-1348.

If you want to buy good comics, you might as well start at a good comic STORE.

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Big Two Entropy

With the news that the Luna Brothers are going to draw Spider-Woman (which, as I pointed out here months ago, was really only a matter of WHEN, not IF the Luna Brothers would be approached by the Big Two) and Tom Beland doing a Spider-Man comic, it struck me...is there a single creator out there (who has not worked at Marvel and/or DC in the past) that you would be astonished at if they did a superhero title for Marvel or DC?

I do not think there is one.

Which, well, kinda freaks me out.

It makes me think of the "Nurse Romance" adage...and wonder how close we really are to that being a reality.

Pure, Unedited Garbage

Tim Leong, over at Comic Foundry, has a fun little interview up with Alex Robinson, who I absolutely adore, and Robinson has a great line when he talks about the relative merits of the small press system...

It's one of the few ways to communicate with an audience without interference from editors, sponsors, producers, whatever. This is a double-edged sword, of course, since you'll get pure, unedited garbage as well as gems.

This reminded me of a discussion we had here awhile back about the team mentality of "indy comics vs. mainstream comics", and while Brad Curran's main point in THAT piece (which was that "Who cares, a good comic is a good comic!") is correct, I also think that it bears further mention that the world of small press is just SO diverse that it really cannot be seen as a genre any more than manga can be seen as a genre.

Anything that places Bone, Box Office Poison and "Pure, Unedited Garbage" in the same genre is probably missing the whole point of HAVING "genres," which is to classify things.

To choose, "Put out by a creator his or herself" as the main classification distinguishing, say, The Goon and Strangers in Paradise or better yet, Jim Balent and Alex Robinson is, to me, pretty silly.

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This Trade Would Be Good - Flash: Can't Hurry Love

Occasionally, I recommend a group of comics that have never been collected before that I think would make a good trade paperback collection.

I use a page limit of 285 (which is about right for a $20 trade).

I generally will try to avoid stuff like "Ostrander's Suicide Squad Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3" or "collect all of ____'s run on _____," as that is also fairly predictable (the latter I can get to by simply saying "Hey, buy ____'s run on _____").

Today's trade paperback collection idea is based upon two things:

1. The fact that Geoff Johns appears to be ending his run with Linda West's babies coming back to life

and

2. Me mentioning Waid's Flash the other day.

Both events reminded me of how notable the relationship between Wally West and Linda Park was, and how it was such a huge part of Waid's Flash run. HowEVER, what I always liked best was the courtship of Wally and Linda, which mostly took place A. Before Waid took over the title and B. In issues that are not currently collected.

So that is what I would like to see (I call it "Flash: Can't Hurry Love," but I am sure a cooler-sounding title can be thought up), a trade collecting the history of Wally West and Linda Park's relationship.

Chapter 1 - I would include 5-6 pages from Flash #28, Linda's first appearance, just to show how she first interacted with Wally.

Chapter 2 - Flash #36-39, which was about Linda going undercover to bust a cult that Wally was involved in. The real building blocks of Linda and Wally's relationship.

Chapter 3 - A page with a few comic excerpts explaining away the ending of #39 (where Linda became "possessed" by a spirit that turned out to be the K%llg%re).

Chapter 4 - Flash #61, which was a nice issue spotlighting Wally's lovelife problems, where he decides to pursue Linda again.

Chapter 5 - Excerpts of Flash #71 and 72, detailing where Wally finally makes a real committment to Linda.

Chapter 6 - Ten pages of excerpts of Wally and Linda moments over the next 70 issues.

Chapter 7 - Flash #139-141, which was Mark Millar's story of the proposal of Wally to Linda.

Chapter 8 - Flash #142, which was the wedding, where Linda disappears.

Chapter 9 - A page detailing what happens during Linda's disappearance.

Chapter 10 - Excerpt of Flash #159, which features Wally and Linda's REAL marriage.

Chapter 11 - Flash #160, the honeymoon.

Chapter 12 - A page detailing what has happened from then until now.

That would be a good trade.

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Original graphic novels you might like

First, the loss of the blog again isn't my fault, even though it happened in the middle of my post. I swear!

Okay, so I've been reading a bunch of original graphic novels and I'm going to discuss them. You wanna make something of it?

First up is The Annotated Mantooth by Matt Fraction, Andy Kuhn, and Tim Fisher, which is $12.95 and is brought to you by the fine folk at AiT/Planet Lar. Okay, this is a trade paperback, and it came out three years ago, but this new edition has annotations, for which I am a sucker. I love reading about the creative process behind the work. It's neat.

That's not to say the work itself isn't good. This is fantastic and fun and wild storytelling. For crying out loud, it's about a secret agent gorilla! Rex Mantooth is a wonderful creation, and Fraction simply throws everything he can think of at the wall and sees what sticks. The book starts with Mantooth battling ninja robots and goes crazier from there. Part of the fun is discovering where the stories go, so I'm not going to ruin it, but I will say that this is one seriously fun comic, and if you don't laugh at one page, turn it and you will surely laugh at the next one. Fraction is excellent at putting his hero into situations that seem vaguely familiar from, say, James Bond movies and then ripping them to shreds. It's wacky, sure, but Fraction observes these situations sharply and has excellent comic timing throughout.

It's truly raunchy, too, but unlike a recent raunchy work I hated (coughSuper F*ckerscough), the raunch doesn't overwhelm the story, and it fits into the story. Here's an example: Mantooth is trying to recover a plutonium battery that has been stolen. He's at Dr. Woo's casino, speaking with the good doctor, and he says, as if to inquire about buying the battery (he's undercover, you know), "So, would you know where a fella like me could buy a big-assed plutonium battery that was, you know ... stolen? It's for my girlfriend. She uses a big vibrator ... crazy big." In he second panel, in which he says it's for his girlfriend, his girlfriend Honey sits there, and the look on her face is priceless. Funny stuff.

I should mention Kuhn's art. The only other place I've seen it is in his latest work, Easy Way, and it's good there and it's good here. Fraction crowds the panels with a lot of information, but Kuhn is up to the task. There is a lot packed in here, and it's laid out well, so that we're never confused with what's going on. It's a fine complement to the insanity of the story.

I highly recommend finding this book. It's wild and wacky and completely insane, and it's a welcome reminder of what fun comics can be.

Moving on, I also recently bought Heartbreakers Meet Boilerplate by Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett, which is published by IDW and will set you back 999 cents, which is a pretty damned good deal, if you ask me. As Bennett says in the introduction, she and Guinan created Heartbreakers back in 1987, and this is its third publisher. Such a convoluted history might confuse newcomers like me, but there's a brief capsule history at the beginning of the book, and we get some nice allusions to past events that don't really clutter up the book.

This is supposedly a "cross-over," but Boilerplate, a robot created in the latter part of the 19th century, is a creation of Guinan, so I don't think it counts. The deal is that the Heartbreakers, who are all clones of a deceased geneticist, find Boilerplate, who disappeared during World War One, and fix him up. This mechanical marvel draws the attention of the Heartbreakers' enemies, the Wexler clones, who are the last survivors of clones from the company that was responsible for the Heartbreakers' template's death. The Wexlers try to take Boilerplate, and mayhem ensues.

It's not much of a story, I'll admit. It seems to take far too long getting to the action, and then the action is over too quickly. What is nice about the story is the way Guinan and Bennett create this world of clones and robots so that it feels real. The historical details are impressive, and the parts of the book going over Boilerplate's origin and "life" and marvelous. I'm a sucker for works of historical revisionism, and this is one such book. Yes, it doesn't deliver as well as it could have, but it's a fascinating read for the most part.

Guinan's art is unbelievably beautiful. The details are fantastic, and the "photographs" of Boilerplate with various historical figures look so real you may do a double-take. The magnificence of the art overshadows, just a bit, the fact that the story doesn't follow through with its climax as well as it should. That's what comics can do sometimes, and here it does.

The coloring is a bit strange in the book. For the most part, it's a sepia tone that looks fine. Here's an example:

 

But then, on three different and what looks like completely unrelated pages, we get glorious full color. It really pops off the page:

 

I don't understand why it was done this way, but I wish they had just left the three pages uncolored, because the colored pages make me want the whole thing to be done that way.

Anyway, this is an interesting little book. Check it out!

Last but certainly not least, we have Capote in Kansas by Ande Parks and Chris Samnee, which is brought to you by the awesome Oregonians at Oni Press and will set you back 11 dollars and 95 cents. This is a wonderful book. If ever a comic can be called elegiac, this is it. Parks shows us Truman Capote's process of writing In Cold Blood and how it changed him and the people in Kansas who had to deal with the crime. It's fiction, obviously, but it's well researched and it feels real. This is a book about growing up, as Capote goes from an urbane witticist who ignores his true feelings to someone who cares deeply about not only the victims in the crime (he has a running dialogue with the ghost of one of the victims) but the perpetrators as well. Parks refuses to give us easy answers to why someone would commit such a crime - the book is not about that. Rather, it's about someone becoming attuned to tragedy and loss, but also beauty and triumph. It's difficult to read occasionally, because Capote seems to sympathize too much with the killers (or, actually, just one of them), but as we read, we are drawn into his world, a world in which Capote, as a homosexual, might have felt as ostracized as these murderers. In the end, Capote comes to understand a little more about the human condition, which allows him to be a little more human. It's a remarkable transformation, one Parks does not bludgeon us over the head with.

Samnee's art is wonderful, too. It's vaguely reminiscent of Adam Hughes, but with a more naturalistic feel. The black-and-white works well, too, especially in the jailhouse scenes. There are a lot of actors in the book and a lot of talking, but Samnee's art makes it easy to differentiate between them and gives drama to the talking scenes. It's a tough job, but he's up to it.

This book and, to a lesser extent, Union Station make me wonder why Parks is better known as an inker. The man can write!

So there you have it. Three completely different kinds of books, all definitely worth your hard-earned ducats. Who says comics aren't a ridiculously flexible art form? Hunt these books down somewhere - you won't be disappointed.

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Rarely Reviewed Comics - Young Love #126

As it turns out, this issue of Young Love that I happened to choose to review was (totally by coincidence) the LAST issue of the title.

Well, I have to say, while it may have been a loss in the sense that it served a particular niche audience, on terms of quality comic work, it was not a great loss at all.

One of the first notable aspects of the comic is that I really could not tell if the comic was all-new stories or not. They all APPEARED to be new stories, but I could not tell for sure.



The cover story, about the CB romance, was drawn by the great classic artist, Win Mortimer. Is he still alive? He was a great artist.

The CB story was weak.

The story is about a waitress who wants to become a trucker, and is having an "over the CB" romance with a trucker. Supposedly, the drama in the story will come from whether the guy is good looking, and whether he is willing to deal with her being a trucker.

The former is a weak plot point, and the latter is resolved very quickly, with barely any sense that it was a big deal at all.

Nice art, though.

You may have noticed the hilarious headline of one of the stories on the cover, "I Won't Kiss That Evil Way!"

Well, the story is just as silly as the title.

And the kicker is that the story was written by a young Tom DeFalco!

Really, it wasn't a terrible story idea, as it is a story that we are all familiar with - a woman is pressured to put out, and doesn't want to. That's fine. No problem there.

However, the way DeFalco HANDLES it, waaaay over the top. The lines of dialogue are basically just like the headline - "I Won't Kiss That Evil Way!!!"

Imagine if the guy had tried to cop a feel!!

There is a pretty straightforward story about a woman not wanting her daughter to get involved with a race car driver that falls apart with an IDIOTIC finale, which is so stupid that it would really work well as a SNL skit, as it is sooo ridiculous (a quick recap, the daughter is so distraught that she accidentally runs onto the race track, where the guy almost kills her, but manages to avoid her, but hits near the old man who is a friend and confidant of the race car driver - which removes the amnesia of the old man, as it turns out that he is the girl's FATHER, who was a daredevil who was presumed dead years ago, which is why the mother is so hard on the race car driver. You can't make stuff like that up! Well, rather, you SHOULDN'T make stuff like that up!)

There is a cute segment in each issue where a person writes in to say how they met. Paul Kupperberg handles the one-page story in this issue of how a magician fell for his substitute assistant, who he met for the first time during the act that night!

Finally, the one actually good story in the issue was a story that would never be told today. In it, a woman is jealous of her boyfriend's best friend, because her boyfriend spends so much time with him. Nowadays, obviously, this story would be quite different. In this issue, the woman is just mad at the best friend, but there is a nice little twist in the story, and it has a nice resolution. Good story.

However, one good story out of four just is not enough!

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